Whitstable and Rusthall fought out an entertaining game watched by a crowd of 371 on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Following the disappointment of losing their opening two fixtures on the Belmont 3G pitch, an improved performance resulted in a narrow home win over a good Rusthall team. Josh Oliver finished well to put Whitstable ahead during a positive first half display and although Louie Clarke levelled in the closing minutes of the half, there was still time for Will Thomas to score his first Whitstable goal and give his team a deserved lead at the break. It got even better at the start of the second half when James Jeffrey slotted in a third, but Rusthall had other ideas and substitute Dwan Archer made it 3-2 with plenty of time left to play. After a few substitutions from both managers, either side might have added to their score and Rusthall became an ever increasing threat in the latter stages, but were unable to find an equaliser.

Whitstable had kicked off their league season with three away games, all of which were won. This was the third successive home game and after defeats by Welling Town and Bearsted, the home faithful were hoping for a different outcome. Rusthall had enjoyed a great start to their campaign, topping the early league table, as well as knocking Ramsgate out of the FA Cup, and were still handily placed with ten points from their first six league games. There were several changes to the Whitstable team, with a reshuffled defence necessary due to the enforced absence of captain Freeman Rogers following his head injury sustained against Bearsted. Jake Mackenzie returned, George Sheminant moved to left back and Tom Mills, captain for this game, joined Will Thomas in the centre. Muhammed Cham started his first game of the season on the right, Joe Nelder came into the midfield and James Jeffrey also returned to the starting eleven. There was a place on the bench for recent signing Dominic Wynter-Stephens. A minute’s silence was once more observed prior to kick off as a mark of respect to HM Queen Elizabeth II.

A challenge in the first 30 seconds resulted in a yellow card for James Huggins, as he won the ball but then caught Yassin Fares, who had to be substituted a little later. There were a few long range efforts at both ends, but the first real threat came in the 13th minute after Cham was brought down outside the box and Oliver’s free kick was touched over the bar by Tommy Taylor in the Rusthall goal. The resulting corner eventually fell to Matt Gething who volleyed over the bar. Cham was causing the Rusthall defence a few problems and one of his crosses was just cleared away and the next rebounded to Huggins who put his shot wide. Gething then flicked on for Jeffrey who turned on the edge of the box, but his shot lacked the power to beat Taylor. The opening goal came in the 32nd minute when Jeffrey made a good run down the right and played the ball across for Oliver to fire home from 18 yards. Dan Eason did well to prevent Luke Miller finding the top corner after being set up by Reuel Powell-Downey, the Whitstable goalkeeper tipping the ball behind. A long clearance then sent Jeffrey clear, but his shot was blocked. In the 43rd minute, Rusthall brought the scores level after Whitstable lost possession and Luke Miller played a clever ball through the defence to send Powell-Downey clear on the left and his cross was finished at close range by Clarke. Whitstable came straight back and Gething crossed from the left for Jeffrey, but James White made a great interception. From the corner, Gething kept the ball alive and rolled it back for Thomas who found the far corner with a precise first time shot. The last action of the half saw Huggins given a final warning for a foul, which no doubt led to his substitution at the break, giving an opportunity to Wynter-Stephens who came on at the restart with Whitstable leading 2-1.

Whitstable had the perfect start to the second half when Cham’s pass down the right found the run of Jeffrey who tucked the ball past the advancing Taylor to extend the lead in the 48th minute. Cham had been feeling his hamstring since the first half and was replaced in the 61st minute by Kyron Lightfoot when Rusthall also made two changes and were soon back in the contest. A free kick was headed out to Calvin Gitiba whose shot was well parried by Eason, but Archer volleyed the loose ball into the net via the underside of the bar. The remainder of the game saw chances at both ends, with Whitstable never quite able to make the points safe. Oliver shot wide after Lightfoot found him in the box, Eason denied Powell-Downey, then Ryan Flack slipped in Lightfoot, but Taylor was quickly out to save. More substitutions followed, before Rusthall had their best opportunity in added time when Daniel Blunn crossed for Clarke who was just unable to divert the ball on target with the goal at his mercy and Whitstable had done enough to secure a valuable three points.

With no game at the weekend, Whitstable will hope to build on this improved display when they travel to high flying Deal on Tuesday week.

Whitstable	Data	Rusthall
7	Shots on target	7
4	Shots off target	1
4	Shots blocked	1
6	Corners	3
19	Fouls conceded	9
2	Offside	4
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, George Sheminant, James Huggins (Dominic Wynter-Stephens 46), Tom Mills (c), Will Thomas, Muhammed Cham (Kyron Lightfoot 61), Joe Nelder, Matt Gething, James Jeffrey (Ryan Flack 78), Josh Oliver (Harry O’Donnell 85).
Sub (unused): Alex Kokoshi
Goals: Josh Oliver 32, Will Thomas 45, James Jeffrey 48.
Yellow cards: James Huggins 2, Dominic Wynter-Stephens 61, Josh Oliver 77.

Rusthall
Tommy Taylor, Abdullah Khalil (Addo Amankwah 85), Rory Salter (Daniel Blunn 72), Calvin Gitiba, James White, Jack Smith (c), Luke Miller, Jamie Miller (Ash Sheppard 61), Louie Clarke, Conor Johnson (Dwan Archer 61), Yassin Fares (Reuel Powell-Downey 17).
Subs (unused): none
Goals: Louie Clarke 43, Dwan Archer 64.

Attendance: 371
Referee: Richard Joss
Assistants: Michael Skerratt & David Simmons